The sun-temple crypt
A chamber under the church roofed with mortarless megaliths and an eastern slot that catches the first ray of dawn, said to be older than the monastery and the city itself.
CC BY-SA 2.5 · Hamdigumus — CC0 · Hamdigumus — CC0 · Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada — CC BY-SA 2.0
Beneath the church floor is a windowless chamber roofed with huge stones laid without mortar, said to be a temple of the sun that predates Mardin itself. The monastery was raised on top of it in 493, and from 1166 to 1932 it was the seat of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, the headquarters of an entire church for more than seven centuries before the see moved to Homs and then Damascus. Even Turks call it by its Arabic name, Dayr al-Zafaran, and local tradition holds that saffron was mixed into the lime, which is why the walls glow a warm yellow at sunset above the Mardin plain stretching flat to the Syrian horizon. You cannot wander freely: visits go in small groups led by monastery staff, setting off roughly every fifteen to twenty minutes as visitors gather, and that works in your favour. Only the guide unlocks the sun-temple crypt and explains the eastern slot that admits the first ray of morning, then leads you up into the domed church of Mor Hananyo with its wooden patriarchal throne of roughly three hundred years, the Church of the Virgin, and the mausoleum where more than fifty patriarchs and metropolitans rest in tiered wall niches. Commentary is mostly Turkish with basic English, and a tour takes thirty to forty-five minutes. What sets it apart from Europe's museum-monasteries is that it is still alive: a bishop, monks and boarding students live here and study Syriac, an Aramaic dialect still used for the prayers, and Arabic speakers will catch familiar words if they listen. The upper floor is closed because it is their home, the gate shuts for the noon prayer from 12:00 to 13:00, and the monastery closes on some feast days, so check ahead before a Sunday or holiday visit. Modest dress is a given; photographing the courtyard and facades is fine, while interiors depend on the guide and the occasion. The monastery sits about five kilometres east of old Mardin, ten minutes by car or taxi on a good asphalt road with ample parking, and pairs naturally with the ruins of Dara on the same outing. Families manage well, but the crypt has steps and narrow passages that defeat a pushchair, and the courtyard offers little shade, so in July and August come first thing in the morning. Cash at the gate; the Turkish Müze Kart is not accepted.
A chamber under the church roofed with mortarless megaliths and an eastern slot that catches the first ray of dawn, said to be older than the monastery and the city itself.
More than fifty patriarchs and metropolitans in tiered wall niches, the record of seven centuries when this was the seat of an entire church.
Stone said to have saffron in its lime, glowing in the last light above the Mardin plain that runs on to Syria.
Eski Kale Mahallesi, Deyrulzafaran Küme Evleri No:5, Artuklu, Mardin
Deyrulzafaran: it is ten minutes from Mardin against well over an hour to Mor Gabriel, and the organised tour takes you into the sun temple and mausoleum and explains everything. Mor Gabriel is older, quieter and more atmospheric, but only worth the drive if you are heading to Midyat or Hasankeyf anyway.
The courtyard and facades, yes; the tour itself descends steps into a crypt with narrow passages, no good for a pushchair, and involves half an hour of standing and listening that bores under-sixes. Older children usually enjoy the sun-temple story.